***This chapter may be triggering to certain individuals. I recommend skipping this chapter if you are under the age of 10 or have a hard time reading about fire or the reasoning behind suicidal attempts/depression. Though do be mindful that many events that arise in this chapter are extremely important to Aline's history.***

Word Count: 1,331

       White, thick smoke arose from every crevice of the room as dark blue flames were beginning to find their way underneath the door, sneaking into the darkened bedroom. The little girl's quiet snores fell silent against the roaring fire down below her, she didn't know what was to become of this night. She was completely oblivious to her future ahead of this day. The small, young girl that she was didn't know what hell they were going to put her through.

Soon a shrill scream came from downstairs, a piercing wail of pain, one so painful she could feel it as it echoed over and over in her mind. She opened her eyes quickly, a sudden gathering of cold chills running up her spine as her guts wrenched up in a tight ball, twisting and knotting themselves together. She knew something was wrong the moment she smelled smoke and felt the flames lash out at her small, porcelain face.

        Her weak arms slowly picked herself up from the bed. She tried to grab her leg braces but was unable, and she fell out of bed and onto the wooden floor below her. In a cry of pain, she knew this may be the last thing she saw before dying. But death wasn't scary to her, she knew it happened to everyone, she knew that one day she would die, as would everyone else. She knew she would never come back, she knew she wouldn't wake up. She knew she'd never see her family again and never miss them, not because she didn't want to, but because she couldn't.

So the little girl braced for the worst, but felt strong arms pick her up. Her father had made it just in time, just as it was getting extremely hard to breathe, and he helped her put her braces on so she could stand.

"C'mon darling, we must go and now." Her father's calm words were quiet compared to the croaks of protest that were coming from the house as it burned from the inside out.

She reached out for his desperate outstretched hand, but was a second too late. Right in front of her weary eyes, a fiery shard of wood fell from the roof, falling right atop her father. Flames incased his body as he stumbled backwards, reaching out for his daughter, and the floor below him gave out and he fell into the black hole that had birthed itself into existence beneath his feet. His scream, a scream of his beloved daughters name, would forever reign high in her brain as tears soaked her eyes. Her screams of protest could be heard for miles as she screamed out her dead father's name. More and more red and blue filled her vision along with hot, burning tears. It was as if the fire had possessed her tears as they burnt a trail down her pale face and she soon wondered if this was what hell looked like.

   She slowly crawled back towards her bed, not having enough time to grab her tiny teddy-bear as another fiery piece of wood fell onto her bed. Her screams weren't even heard now as an explosion was heard downstairs and what resembled an earthquake shook what was left of the house.

The little girl, fearing for her life at this point as she didn't want to die this way, ran, as fast as she could with her braces, to the window. Her tiny, trembling fingers took too long as the house shook once again upon its foundation and her feet fell from underneath her. She had to get back on her feet if she wanted to make it out alive... but pain encased her tiny body... a cocoon she couldn't pry herself out of.

    Her breathing got harder as the house shook more and more, the screams of her family a distant memory by now. She would die here, with the rest of her family... she didn't have a reason to leave. She'd be the last one left, yet no one would want her as her family never wanted her. She wasn't worth anyone's time but her father's and she had just watched him die.

     "I love you dad..." The little girl muttered with the rest of her strength, though it was not heard as the house fell on its knees with a weakened, defeated scream. This was her last moments....

      Or so she thought.

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A hand was placed on the girl's back and strong arms, ones resembling her father's, picked her up. Her breathing was slow, but she was still alive. These people, they were determined to keep her that way even if she didn't want it to be that way. They believed she was too young to die and they took her in.

She awoke in a white room, beeping machines lulling her in and out of sleep. Wires hung all her around her, and a mask was over her face. She was too weak to try to pull it off or try and sit up, so she laid there. It didn't take long for an older woman dressed in white to come in and notice she was awake. She gave the little girl a smile and put a hand to her head as she took off her mask. Suddenly memories came back to the girl, her father, her teddy-bear, and her family... they were all gone. She began thrashing in the bed suddenly being aware that she was alive.

She didn't want to be alive. She wanted to be with her father, whether that be in heaven or hell... just as long as they were together. She had to leave, she can't stay here. She had nowhere to go...

"Shhhh... darlin' please, stop thrashing. You're in good hands..." The woman in white spoke to the girl but her voice went unheard as tears began to well up in the girl's eyes. She didn't want this woman's pity, she wanted death.

"Please, don't cry. We'll take care of you, I promise." The woman started petting the girl's hair as she started to calm down. This was what her father would do when she had a nightmare or couldn't sleep; it was the only thing that could comfort her.

"There we go, see it's not that bad. I'm going to call the doctor up here, alright darling? He'll make sure you're all okay." She smiled kindly at the girl as she pressed a button on her uniform and a red light emitted from it. Slowly, the girl's mind faded once again into sleep as exhaustion took over her tiny body. Soon, the doctor walked in.

    "Sir, I think she's experiencing flashbacks... we may need to put her in a Psychiatric Hospital... I believe it would help her before she goes into the orphanage." The doctor nodded his head at the woman's words as he examined her wounds. Many burns had been left, and her braces had melted which made worse burns on her ankles and feet.

"She'll have to recover from her burns, but I think she'll be best in a mental establishment." He nodded to the woman and walked out of the girl's room and went back to work.

"I don't know what you've been through darling, but I do hope that whatever may come of your life that it will never be as painful as this moment." With those words, the woman left a kiss on the girl's forehead and started for the door to exit her room.

     She turned around one last time.

   "I wish good luck to you, Allison Loveland."

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~KennyandEmo~